While most college kids spend their time hanging out with friends, partying, and occasionally attending class, Jade Hughes spent hours each day curled up in pain and sprinting to the bathroom .
At first, doctors thought she was suffering from a stomach bug, but when her weight started to plummet and she began passing blood, they decided to perform a colonoscopy where they discovered she was suffering from a chronic bowel condition called ulcerative colitis.
For years, Jade tried managing her symptoms with medications, however, after they stopped helping and her weight dropped to 77 pounds, she decided something had to change. “I used to carry around a change of clothes, a bucket and wet wipes everywhere I went,” she said.
The now 23-year-old decided to have major surgery earlier this year, which removed her large intestines, and was fitted with an ileostomy or stoma, which is an external bag that collects waste until it can be emptied and changed. “The bag has given me my life back and one of the first things I wanted to do was to get a membership at my local leisure centre so I could start putting some weight on as I’d dropped to five and a half stone.”
Normally, Jade wears high waisted swim bottoms to cover the bag, however, was forced to wear a lower cut pair during a recent trip to the pool since all of her others were in the wash. “I was in the pool and this woman, who must’ve been in her 50s, came over to me and said ‘do you think that’s appropriate for the pool?’, pointing towards my bag. I think I was just stunned so I didn’t reply and then she said, ‘well you know that shouldn’t be on show in pool? It’s not very nice for young children to see’.”
“She then went off to get the lifeguard, who came over and told me, ‘I’m sorry I have to say something because we’ve had a complaint.’ But she was really nice and said ‘don’t take any notice and just go about your swim as you were’. I stayed in a little bit longer but it started to get really uncomfortable because the woman kept swimming past and tutting at me.”
“That lady has no idea what I’ve been through for the last seven years,” Jade said. “Luckily for me I love my bag and I love my body. It looks after me every day, it fights infection it keeps my heart racing and my blood pumping. So whatever anyone may think of me it will never affect me.”
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[Featured image: Jade Hughes]
Woman With Colostomy Bag Shamed For Wearing Bathing Suit is an article from: LifeDaily